Donald R. Wolfensberger is director of the Congress Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a position he had held since June 1999. He first came to the Wilson Center in February 1997 as a guest scholar where he wrote the book, Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000). Prior to that he worked for 28 years as a staff member in the House of Representatives, beginning in 1969 as a legislative assistant to his own Congressman, Rep. John B. Anderson (R-Ill.). He joined the House Rules Committee staff as Anderson's subcommittee counsel in 1979, and subsequently served on the committee as subcommittee counsel to Rep. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) from 1981-88, and Rep. Lynn Martin (R-Ill.), from 1989-90. In 1991 he was named Republican Staff Director of the Rules Committee by Ranking Minority Member Gerald B. Solomon (R-N.Y.), and in 1995 Solomon named him chief-of-staff of the Committee in the 104th Congress. He is an expert on parliamentary rules and procedures and played a key role in developing House reform proposals for the Republican leadership over the years, culminating in their adoption as House rules when the GOP won majority control in 1995.

He earned a B.A. in English from North Central College (1964) and successfully completed course work towards an M.A. in political science at the University of Iowa (1966). During his freshman year at North Central College he was sports editor of the college newspaper, The Chronicle, and yearbook, The Spectrum, and as a sophomore was named editor of the newspaper. While in graduate school he worked part-time as newscaster and reporter for KXIC radio in Iowa City. After graduate school he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania, East Africa (1967-68), teaching English in a secondary school.

He currently writes a twice-monthly column, “Procedural Politics,” for the popular Capitol Hill Newspaper, Roll Call. He lectures frequently on Congress to student groups, foreign diplomats, and executive branch officials. He and his wife, Monty Tripp, live in Arlington, Virginia, and in 2009 are celebrating their 25th anniversary.

Major Publications

"Congress and Policymaking in an Age of Terrorism," in Congress Reconsidered, 8th ed., ed. Oppenheimer and Dodd (CQ Press, 2005)

Congress has undergone many changes since World War II, most of which have had to do with adapting to the complexities of modern society and the commensurate growth in the Executive Branch bureaucracy and powers of the presidency. The first major post War reform efforts begun in 1945 and 1965 were premised on the belief that any institutional changes should be bicameral and bipartisan. Consequently, joint committees of equal party and chamber representation were formed to conduct a comprehensive study of the organization and operations of Congress with a view to strengthening it...

Congress has changed dramatically over the last half century, from a culture of legislating to a culture of campaigning, according to a new report prepared for the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Wilson Center by Donald Wolfensberger, who is a scholar at each organization. The report finds that this culture is not conducive to bipartisan compromise or serious problem solving and contains suggestions for changes the new Congress could implement to effect a returned focus to legislating.

Former House Rules Committee staffer and Wilson Center expert Don Wolfensberger lays out a step-by-step plan to restore Congress’ “culture of lawmaking.” Committees—not party leaders—should control legislative work, he says, and campaign finance reforms are needed to shift attention from 24-7 fundraising.

With today's Congress sharply divided along partisan lines, are U.S. lawmakers still capable of reaching across the aisle on foreign policy? This public program will examine the congressional politics of U.S. foreign policy making and the prospects for foreign policy bipartisanship.

Congress has long been criticized for abdicating its war powers' responsibilities to the president. Is this still the case, and if so, why? Does Congress tend to push back more after a war has drug on for a long time and does this reflect the war weariness of the public? These just are some of the questions this panel will explore.

The much venerated Senate of the mid-twentieth century is now a distant memory. Today senators routinely electioneer on the Senate floor, play games with the legislative process, and question each other’s motives. Sean M. Theriault documents how one group of senators has been at the forefront of the transformation—the “Gingrich Senators,” which he defines as those Republicans who previously served in the House after New Gingrich was first elected. He shows how the Gingrich Senators are more conservative and more likely to engage in partisan warfare than the other Republicans.

The debate over national energy policy is bound to heat up as the presidential and congressional elections grow closer, both on the campaign trail and in the halls of Congress. This panel will explore just how much can realistically be expected out of Congress this year in altering the country’s energy course and what new challenges and opportunities we might confront in the expanding global market for energy resources.

Many have commented on how much Congress has changed over the last 40 years for a variety of reasons, most noticeably from the increasing importance of political parties in the legislative process and their increased polarization from each other. In this roundtable discussion, former Members, congressional staff and area political scientists will discuss the ultimate question of whether there is any way to restore a greater measure of deliberation and bipartisan national problem-solving.

Congress does not pay close attention to foreign affairs; its oversight of the foreign policy establishment is sporadic and haphazard; and, when it does get involved, its decisions are usually driven more by politics than careful deliberation. That was the consensus of a panel convened at the Wilson Center Oct. 17 on the topic, “Congress’ Influence on Foreign Policy: For Better or Worse?”

Delegation from the Central Party School of China and Wilson Center experts discussed China's legislative reforms on the local level and the role of Congress in shaping foreign policy in the United States.

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Don Lee, economics reporter for the LA Times, Don Wolfensberger, Wilson Center Senior Scholar, and Kent Hughes, Director of PAGE program at the Wilson Center, discuss the fiscal cliff in our "economics roundtable." Fuad Siniora, former prime minister of Lebanon, provides context on the Arab Spring from the perspective of that nation.